A feeling wheel is a visual emotion chart that helps people identify, name, and communicate what they are feeling. It usually starts with broad emotions in the center, such as happy, sad, angry, afraid, surprised, or disgusted, and then moves outward toward more specific feeling words.

A feeling wheel helps people move from general emotions to clearer language, making it easier to understand what they feel, what they need, and what next step may be helpful.

Start in the center of the feeling wheel and choose the broad emotion that feels closest. Then move outward to find more specific feeling words that better describe the experience.

For example, someone may start with “angry” and realize they feel frustrated, hurt, dismissed, resentful, or overwhelmed. Once the feeling is named more clearly, it becomes easier to reflect, communicate, and decide what support or action may be needed.

An emoji emotion chart, also called an emoji feelings chart or visual feelings chart, uses facial expressions and simple emotion words to help people identify how they feel. Instead of starting with a long list of words, an emoji chart gives people a visual way to choose or point to an emotion.

Emoji emotion charts are especially helpful for kids, visual learners, classroom check-ins, calm corners, counseling sessions, family conversations, and early emotional-literacy activities.

A feeling wheel helps people build emotional vocabulary by moving from broad emotions to more specific feeling words. It is useful for deeper reflection, therapy, counseling, SEL lessons, restorative circles, workplace check-ins, and adult or teen emotional awareness.

An emoji emotion chart is more visual and simple. It is best for quick emotional check-ins, younger students, visual learners, calm corners, family conversations, and early emotional-literacy work.

Many classrooms, counseling spaces, therapy offices, and families use both together.

Feeling wheels can be used by adults, teens, and children. Adults often use feeling wheels in therapy, coaching, workplace emotional intelligence, conflict reflection, journaling, and personal growth. Students and children may use them in SEL lessons, classrooms, counseling sessions, calm corners, and family conversations.

The key is choosing the right format. A feeling wheel works well for deeper vocabulary, while an emoji emotion chart may be easier for younger students or visual learners.

Yes. CircleUp Education provides professional development trainings for schools, cities, nonprofits, workplace teams, and other organizations that include the use of the Feeling Wheel, emoji emotion charts, and other relationship-building tools.

Several of our trainings either include the Feeling Wheel as part of the learning experience or are centered around similar tools that help people build emotional awareness, strengthen communication, navigate conflict, and create more connected communities.

Some of the main trainings that include or connect with the Feeling Wheel include:

B-Team

A professional development experience focused on helping teams build stronger relationships, communication, trust, and belonging.

https://www.circleuped.com/beteam

ChatterMatter

A training experience designed to strengthen communication, connection, and meaningful conversation skills.

https://www.circleuped.com/chattermatter

Circle Restora Relationship Circles

Our Circle Restora trainings include segments around using relationship-building tools, including the Feeling Wheel, to support reflection, emotional awareness, group dialogue, and restorative circle practices.

https://www.circleuped.com/circlerestora-relationship-circles?rq=circlerestora

Conflict Restora Mediator Training

Our Conflict Restora mediation trainings include modules around using the Feeling Wheel and emoji emotion charts to help participants identify feelings, reflect on needs, build empathy, prepare for mediation, and support conflict resolution or restorative justice processes.

https://www.circleuped.com/conflict-restora-mediator?rq=conflict%20restora

These trainings can help educators, school leaders, city staff, nonprofit teams, managers, facilitators, and organizational leaders learn how to use tools like the Feeling Wheel in real conversations, team-building activities, restorative practices, mediation preparation, classroom settings, and workplace culture work.

If your school, city, nonprofit, or organization wants support using Feeling Wheels or emoji emotion charts as part of a larger professional development experience, CircleUp Education can help you choose the training that best fits your goals.

No. Emoji emotion charts are especially helpful for children and younger students, but they can also support adults, families, teams, and groups. Because emojis and facial expressions are familiar and easy to understand, they can make emotional check-ins feel more approachable.

Emoji emotion charts are useful when people need a quick, visual way to identify how they feel before having a deeper conversation.

The best feeling wheel for therapy or counseling is usually a durable, easy-to-reference chart that clients can use during sessions. Laminated 8.5x11 feeling wheels work well because they are portable, reusable, and easy to hold during individual or group conversations.

Feeling wheels can support emotional identification, reflection, body-awareness questions, communication, conflict processing, and conversations about what someone may need next.

For classrooms and SEL lessons, the best feeling wheel depends on how it will be used. An 8.5x11 laminated feeling wheel is helpful for small groups, student check-ins, counseling folders, and classroom activities. A wall poster is better for calm corners, classroom displays, morning meetings, and group reference.

Emoji emotion charts are also helpful for younger students, quick check-ins, and visual emotional-awareness activities.

Choosing feeling wheels that allow students to color in the feelings and emotions can also be very helpful and enhance emotional awareness and communication.

Yes. Feeling wheels are useful in restorative circles because they give participants shared language for naming emotions, identifying impact, and reflecting on needs. They can help people move from reaction to reflection during conflict, repair conversations, and group check-ins.

A feeling wheel can support questions like: “What feeling came up?” “Who was impacted?” “What do you need now?” and “What might help repair the situation?”

Yes. Feeling wheels can be used with workplace teams for emotional intelligence, leadership development, meeting check-ins, team reflection, conflict debriefs, coaching, and communication training.

They help team members name what they are experiencing more clearly, which can support better conversations, stronger trust, and more thoughtful next steps.

Choose an 8.5x11 feeling wheel if you want a handheld tool for therapy sessions, counseling, SEL lessons, folders, small groups, or individual reflection.

Choose a 12x18 feeling wheel poster if you want a larger wall display for a classroom, therapy office, counseling room, calm corner, staff room, or team space.

Choose paper handouts or printable resources for student packets, workshops, journaling, remote sessions, and take-home activities.

A printable feeling wheel is useful for worksheets, journaling, remote sessions, student handouts, and one-time activities. A laminated feeling wheel is better for repeated use in classrooms, therapy offices, counseling spaces, restorative circles, and facilitation kits.

Printable resources are flexible and easy to distribute. Laminated charts are more durable, professional, and ready to use again and again.

Some laminated charts may work with dry-erase markers depending on the finish, but not all laminated surfaces are designed for repeated writing. If you plan to write directly on the chart often, choose a dry-erase or writable feeling wheel product when available.

For guided writing, reflection worksheets or printable feeling wheel activities may be a better option.

Many educators and therapist use glossy laminated feeling wheels with dry-erase markers to write on and reuse their feeling wheels. Please note that some glossy laminated feeling wheel charts and posters may not be dry-erase. Make sure the feeling wheel clearly states that it can be used for dry-erase purposes. In additional, soft-touch laminated feeling wheels are not compatible with dry-erase markers.

Yes. We offer bulk feeling wheels and emoji emotion charts for schools, districts, counseling teams, youth programs, organizations, and workplace teams.

The process is simple. Decide how many charts you need, then send us an email or schedule a free call with our team. We can provide a customized quote, answer questions about the best format for your group, and share payment options, including how to complete a standard order or initiate a purchase order.

We have the inventory and production capacity to print thousands of feeling wheels and emoji emotion charts, so we can support large school, district, organizational, or training orders.

You can also visit our bulk feeling wheel page to purchase directly from our store and have your order shipped quickly.

Click HERE for our bulk feeling wheels.

A feeling wheel may also be called a feelings wheel, emotion wheel, emotions wheel, emotion chart, feelings chart, emotional vocabulary chart, or emotional-awareness tool. These terms are often used when people are looking for a visual tool to help identify and communicate emotions.

A feeling wheel can be a powerful tool during conflict resolution, mediation, restorative justice conferences, and circle processes because it helps participants move beyond the facts of what happened and reflect more deeply on how the incident impacted them emotionally.

In many mediation processes, there is an incident assessment and preparation phase where the people involved in the conflict meet with a mediator, facilitator, circle keeper, or guide to reflect on what happened and talk through the facts and details. In more modern mediation practices, restorative justice mediation, and restorative conference preparation, this process often goes deeper. Participants may meet with facilitators before coming together so they can process how they are feeling, identify what emotions have come up, and better understand what they may need in order to move forward.

A feeling wheel supports this preparation process by giving participants language for emotions that may be hard to name. Someone may start with a broad feeling like angry, sad, afraid, or hurt, then use the wheel to identify more specific emotions such as betrayed, embarrassed, dismissed, resentful, disappointed, anxious, guilty, or overwhelmed. This clarity can help them better explain their experience, understand what they need, and prepare for a more productive conversation with the other people involved.

Feeling wheels and emotion charts can also be used as empathy-building tools. In conflict resolution and restorative justice practices, participants are often invited to reflect not only on how they were affected, but also on how their actions, words, or decisions may have impacted others. A feeling wheel can help someone consider what another person may have felt during or after the incident, which can build deeper levels of empathy, accountability, and understanding.

This can be especially useful when facilitators are assessing whether participants are ready to come together for a mediation, restorative conference, or circle process. If someone can begin to name their own emotions, recognize the emotions of others, identify needs, and reflect on impact, they may be better prepared to participate in a meaningful and constructive process.

A feeling wheel can also support problem solving. Once participants have clearer language for what they feel and what others may have experienced, they can begin to identify what is needed next. This may include repair, apology, accountability, reassurance, boundaries, support, changed behavior, clarification, or a negotiated agreement.

In this way, the feeling wheel is not just an emotional vocabulary tool. It can support mediation preparation, restorative justice readiness, empathy development, conflict reflection, and the process of moving toward resolution, repair, or a shared path forward.